MASH: After Korea
by United4180
Summary: Hawkeye is back home after the Korean War, along with everybody else he knew. But four years have passed, and he's on the path to an emotional breakdown from not seeing his comrades for so long. So what's the answer? A reunion. ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

Chapter 1

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

The thwack, thwack, thwack of the rotor blades on the chopper was an overwhelming sound standing only 14 feet away. Events of the past three years buzzed through Hawkeye's head like the jets that used to fly over every day. He remembered the day that Henry Blake-his first commanding officer, had been killed in a plane crash. The day that BJ, his best friend, took the place of the state-side-bound Trapper John McIntyre. He wouldn't ever forget the day that Radar went back to Iowa, leaving behind his beloved teddy bear. Hawkeye, remembering the first day that he arrived in Korea, the day that he got his travel orders to go home. And then when his travel orders were rescinded and he had to turn right back. Then there was the time when Frank went missing, only to be replaced by Major Charles Winchester.

After just a few seconds had passed, Hawkeye snapped out of his memory filled mind. "BJ, I can't hide from it anymore. Maybe we will see each other again. I mean, we'll be on totally opposite sides of the country, but we can write. Or maybe call."

Hawkeye, wanting to spend just one more day with the person who had been his best friend for the past year and a half, had the urge to catch the same plane that BJ would be on, yet at the same time was eager to get home the quick way. He wanted so much to taste one of the apples picked fresh from the tree outside the sunlit bay window on the side of the house. The sweet, juicy, yet somewhat tart taste of the fresh apple made Hawkeye's mouth water. Just thinking about it made him want to bite into the golden-brown apple as soon as he possibly could.

"Go Hawk, you'll miss your flight," BJ said.

Hawkeye ducked down to avoid a possible decapitation by the chopper blades. Some many memories he would leave behind in Korea. He would miss the still in the swamp, how Klinger always used to joke around when he wore dresses. But there was one thing that Hawkeye would never miss-the meatball surgery in the O.R. That and the wounded coming in every day or so on the buses, the choppers, and sometimes even a beat-up jeep that had been ravaged by the bombs and the bullets flying and hurtling through the air at nearly 700 miles an hour. All of the blood-drenched surgery gowns that would give you a sickening feeling when you had to take them off to put them in the laundry basket that had been turned red by the blood of hundreds of wounded soldiers and, in some cases, the wounded doctors from the aid stations just 12 miles down the road.

Hawkeye, stepping into the chopper cabin, could just smell the side stretchers, with the sickly smelling fabric and blood-stained wooden handles. Then, after he was strapped in, he heard BJ-his beloved friend-scream over the roaring chopper engine, "But just in case we don't see each other again, I left you a note!"

Hawkeye could barely hear him and could only make out a few words. All that he heard was, "In case", "See", "I left", and the last word-"Note".

With a wave of the San Diego sign in his right hand, BJ sped off down the hill on which the helipad was located. Nearly falling on is bike though, BJ slid in a zigzag manor, but gained his balance.

Hawkeye, still thinking about the word 'note' that his best friend had mentioned, gestured to the pilot to take off. Then with a deafening sound of the engine picking up the three-ton chopper, Hawkeye took his last look at the camp. He saw the Pre-Op building, the colonel's office, the O.R., and post-op. But what caught his eye last, out of the rest of the dirt filled compound, was a single word on the ground, made out of rocks reading, "Goodbye". The pilot swung the chopper around, and headed to Soul. With the chance that Hawkeye would never see some of his best friends again, the pressure in his throat built, and with the tight throat of grief, he started to silently cry.


	2. Chapter 2: The Trip Home

Chapter 2

The Trip Home

A few days after departing the 4077th, Hawkeye sat in the Chicago airport, waiting to depart on his last plane for home. With the note that BJ had left still in his mind, Hawkeye looked for a way to forget everything that he remembered about Korea. But there was always something that reminded him of the war-ridden country. He looked out the window, only to see planes taking off and landing. But the sound of their engines reminded him of the fighter jets in Korea that always flew low.

Hawkeye took out a piece of paper and a pen to write a letter to his father. He knew that the letter would probably get to his dad before he would.

"Dear Dad," he wrote. "We both know that the time that has passed since we last saw each other has felt like an eternity. But, I am pleased to tell you that I will most likely be home about a day after you have received this letter."

Hawkeye thought for a minute of what to write next, but his mind had gone blank. The only things that he could really think of were events at the 4077th. But many of those things he didn't want to think about. They were events that were saddening, and some of them could be considered pitiful. But he decided to write about them anyway. But before he did, he also thought about some of the pranks that he had pulled on others around the camp.

He wrote, once again, about some practical jokes. Some of them were very amusing, yet some could make him and the other jokers seem like they were desperate to have some fun.

"Some things that I never told you about in my letters were along the lines of practical jokes. Some of them might make you laugh, yet others might urge you to take pity on me. But after careful consideration, I thought that I might as well tell you about the pranks that I was able to pull, and some of the ones that backfired. One joke that I pulled was Trapper's idea. We decided that we were going to nail Frank into a crate while he was sleeping. And the odd part of this prank was that it took Frank over four hours to wake up and find himself in a wooden box. But when he did, he thought that he was going to suffocate. We put air-holes in the crate so he could have some oxygen, and I'm sure that he saw them, but he still thought that he was going to die. It was probably because he got in line twice when paranoia was given away."

Hawkeye tried to think of something that Frank had said when he was in the crate, but he couldn't really remember any of the conversation. He tried with all of the brain power that he had, but the neurons just weren't firing enough to jog his memory. So instead, he wrote, "I would tell you something from the conversation we had when Frank was trapped, but, unfortunately, I can't remember anything that we said. But I can remember this; after Frank left for his state-side transfer, his replacement, Charles Winchester, turned out to be even snootier than we thought. He always thought very highly of himself. For instance, the first day that he was assigned to the camp, he had to perform some sort of experimental surgery. After it had been a success, he said that he should have gotten the metal of honor for having to operate in the surgical conditions that we had. Then he said that if we could survive the filth of the camp, then he could do it without any trouble. He actually thought that he was better than anyone else, and he still does today!"

Hawkeye was about to put the next sentence on the paper when he heard the familiar voice of someone he didn't expect.

"Well captain, aren't you going to salute me?"

Hawkeye could recognize that vibrating voice anywhere. And the last time he heard it was only a few days earlier.

"I did three days ago," Hawkeye replied with a smile. Standing up and turning around he screamed and laughed with joy to see Colonel Sherman Potter. Hawkeye really wanted to see him right now, but he wondered what the Colonel was doing in Chicago.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you Colonel," Hawkeye said. But with a moment's hesitation, he asked, "It's nice to see you again, but why are you here?"

"Well, Pierce, you know about those pilots, they are always skittish about landing in a little bit of fog." the Colonel replied.

"I'm guessing that you ran into some bad weather?" Hawkeye questioned. Since he did not know why the Colonel was in Chicago, all that he could think about for an excuse was that the Colonel's plane was diverted from Missouri. And indeed, it was. His former commanding officer told him all about what had happened to the weather over the airport that he was supposed to land at. He also told him about the people who sat next to him on the plane though. Apparently, the lady who sat next to Colonel Potter hadn't ever even seen someone with a rank higher than a major, and when she first saw him, she tried to salute him. The only problem was, she got the army salute confused with the navy salute and instead ended up having to rest her arm in a paper sling because she had twisted it. She didn't know what to do since she didn't know how much respect a Colonel was used to.

After about 20 minutes of talking, Hawkeye had to board his plane. He knew that he would miss the staff back at the 4077th greatly, but it was nice for him to see his commanding officer one last time.

"Well, that's my flight Colonel. Goodbye sir." Hawkeye said reluctantly.

"Goodbye son." The commander replied. And with that, Hawkeye, one of Korea's most brilliant surgeons, was gone.


End file.
